Wind Among the Trees
by Sunhawk1
Summary: This is a xover between SM and RIFTS (an RPG)... Chapter 1 complete!... let me know what you think!


Wind among the Trees  
(A Sailor Moon/RIFTS crossover, with possible future other series')  
by Shea McIntee  
  
Disclaimer: RIFTS belongs to Kevin Siembieda who, IMHO, has done an  
astonishing job on the whole idea. Sailor Moon doesn't belong to me  
either, and, in spite of what I feel is it's over-exposure and it's  
dubbing, is a worthwhile series on the whole (although the costumes  
and speeches/attack names occasionally make me twitch in sympathetic  
embarrassment).  
  
Prelude Note: This is my first fanfic in this category (most of my  
stuff is in the Ranma subsection, not the Sailor Moon subsection)...  
it kinda came from an idea that wandered through my head when I was  
reading about Millenium Trees and 'New Camelot' in the RIFTS England  
sourcebook. For some reason, a thought collided with another  
thought... and, well... thus was born the idea for a fanfic...  
  
Chapter 1 (teaser plus a bit)  
  
The birds chirped among the trees and bushes of the small park,  
which was clean and undisturbed in spite of the past year or so.  
Many other parks in Juuban had been wrecked in the almost constant  
battles between the Forces of Good (in the form of underage girls  
dressed in miniskirts that would normally only exist in Happosai's  
disturbing dreams) and the Forces of Evil (in the form of various  
ugly and, well... evil groups who had little in the way of fashion  
sense and less in the way of tactical sense). In fact, this was  
perhaps the only such park that was NOT torn up, in spite of the  
fact that it was the site of a smallish conjunction of magical lines  
of energy.  
  
Perhaps it was that very node that kept the place safe, or perhaps  
it was some whimsical wish of a passing kami, or maybe sheer chance.  
Regardless or the reason, for those few who knew it's location, it  
was a place to get away from the toils and stress of the everyday  
life.  
  
This afternoon was no different. A passing couple sat under the  
shade of an old tree, which was carved with initials immortalizing  
the love of couples long departed. An old man walked slowly down a  
small pebbled path that meandered it's way through the park. A  
young mother sat on a simple wooden bench and watched her son chase  
a butterfly across a small grassy area.  
  
A small bit away from the people who enjoyed the peacefulness of  
the park, in a small clearing surounded by trees, a point of white  
light appeared in midair. It wasn't astoundingly bright, but was  
noticable in the slanting afternoon sunlight. Here it was that the  
lines of energy in this park, the ley lines, met, and here was  
where, perhaps miracles could occur.  
  
The point of light elongated downwards, creating a line of green-  
white light that stopped perhaps an inch above the grass. The line  
slowly bent outwards in the middle towards both sides, until a  
diamond of energy, perhaps six feet tall, hung in the gentle spring  
breeze, swirling with vague shapes of colors from forest green to a  
pure white.  
  
Suddenly, the diamond began to turn, slowly at first, and then  
picking up speed until, after five or ten minutes, it seemed to be a  
solid double-cone. Meanwhile, a faint humming resonated from the  
trees surrounding the clearing, and as it increased in pitch and  
volume, the shape in the middle began to pulse slowly in and out.  
  
Abruptly the humming stopped, and the light collapsed inward to  
display a human figure standing on the grass.  
  
The figure was not all that tall by some standards, and his (for  
it was apparent that it was a he) medium-dark green hair seemed to  
shift color slightly with the light. He wore a pair of plain brown  
pants, and a green shirt of simple design, resembling a batik shirt  
of eastern europe or a dashika . His  
brown eyes seemed wise beyond his apparent teenage years, and there  
a faint and gentle odor of leaves and earth (not altogether  
unpleasant) accompanied him.  
  
He examined his arms and legs, and then, satisfied with his self-  
exploration, walked out of the clearing with a jaunty stride and a  
whistled archaic tune on his lips.  
  
****  
  
Makoto sat in her seat in math class, staring aimlessly at her  
notebook as she doodled around her notes. She tuned out the  
teacher's droning and instead firmly immired herself in depression,  
practically wallowing in sorrow.  
  
Love. Or rather, the lack of it. Not in general; in fact, the  
abundance of romance among her friends, especially the other Senshi,  
only made her feel worse. Usagi had Mamoru, of course, and Haruka  
and Micheru had each other. Ami, who Makoto had thought would be  
the last one of them to find love, had run into someone who shared  
her interests and talents to a tee, almost as if they were made for  
each other, and had spent almost every day with Ryo. Minako was  
currently in a 'merry war' with a new transfer student from France,  
and Setsuna... well, nobody knew about her. Even Hotaru had found a  
boyfriend.  
  
But not her. Oh, no... it seemed that she was destined to be  
single her whole life. And, knowing what she did of the future and  
of Crystal Tokyo, it would be a LONG life.  
  
She almost welcomed each new attack in a way that the others  
couldn't really understand; as long as she was fighting, she could  
put her misery behind her, and maybe, for a small space, forget her  
other troubles. Besides, she liked fighting; the competition and  
the exertion gave her a thrill that nothing else did.  
  
The bell rang, signalling the start of a period that she had  
recently learned to dread: lunch. At lunch, she would be treated to  
the site of most of her friends cuddling up to their significant  
others. They never MEANT to ignore her, but... well...  
  
She sighed. 'I wish there was someone out there for me...'  
  
****  
  
A light wind blew through the small forest, sending the tree-tops  
swaying, first one way, then the other. The wind blew past the edge  
of the forest, and encountered a large monolith of a tree, almost a  
thousand feet tall. It's branches and leaves covered over a hundred  
feet in every direction, and it's enormous branches were larger than  
many houses. In fact, the huge burls that hung from the lower  
branches were larger than houses, which, in fact, they served the  
function of.  
  
This was, for a Millenium Tree (as they were called), a small  
specimen and young (as these giants went). The eight or ten growths  
among it's foliage housed close to a hundred intelligent humanoid  
and similarly-sized creatures, and several tribes of fairies and  
related woodland beings.  
  
Not much was truly known about Millenium Trees. Some claimed that  
they were alien brought through a Rift, whether accidentally or by  
design, while others stated that the seeds had always been there,  
slumbering under the earth at nexus points and areas of great magic  
until the suge or nuclear death caused the ley lines of Earth to  
explode into active (and overactive) status. Most accepted that  
they held some sort of intelligence (with skeptics grasping at  
straws to disprove this), although there had never been direct  
communication between a Tree and others. Instead, those who slept  
under it's branches might receive dreams or portents, or feel an  
emotional presence at best. Timely and deserved gifts of healing  
and magic came to those who needed it, while those who attacked the  
Tree or it's inhabitants awere often the victim of magical energy  
gone wild.  
  
In truth, the Millenium Trees wee quite intelligent, perhaps more  
so than the skeptics. They heard all within their bounds, and gave  
their gifts to those they chose. They held control over the nexus  
that they sat on, and monitored the dimensional energies of the  
area. They lived off of the mystically energy of the ley lines, and  
acted to further what purposes they chose, often focused towards  
their own protection and the protection of those whom they  
sheltered. To attack one is to risk both it's own formidable wrath,  
and the wrath of all who associate themselves with it.  
  
The giant burls that were a feature of any Millenium Tree were  
hollow, and often housed groups of living creatures in the house-  
sized spaces inside (often the burls were up to ten times the size  
of a large home!). Together, the tree and it's inhabitants create a  
miniature ecosystem that shows the harmony that life can live in.  
  
This tree was currently... distracted... would be the best term,  
perhaps. It's attention was drawn to a dimension that hovered close  
to this one. This tree was young, and like the young of any  
species, sought to learn more about it's surroundings... and itself,  
particularly when it came to emotions of it's own or of others. It  
went silent as it's consciousness simply left, leaving behind a mere  
skeleton of itself to keep the weather stable and an eye on the  
area.  
  
****  
  
In a darkened room, a figure hunched over a shallow bowl of water,  
watching the imagesof the past that appeared in its depths. The  
figure chuckled as it watched the magical warriors defeat a pathetic  
little demon. This world would be easy to dominate, and then...  
then... he, Zazshan, would control enough resouces to further his  
long-awaited goals faster than he expected.  
  
But first, these warriors needed to die... these... 'Senshi'...  
  
****  
  
Meryn walked through the small park. He had slept in the  
clearing; the trip and the processes involved had tired him out.  
Now it was early morning, and he wanted to get an early start on his  
business.  
  
He was here hunting. Something... unnatural had slipped through a  
rift right under his nose, so to speak, and he took that personally.  
He was hee to find out what is was and to deal with it, if  
necessary.  
  
He ignored the part of his mind that whispered that this was just  
an excuse fo walking free like this. That had nothing at all to do  
with his decision.  
  
So why did he sound like he was trying to convince himself?  
  
He stopped on the sidewalk outside the park and closed his eyes.  
He took a deep breath and held it as he tried to 'feel' the scent of  
a paticular magic. It felt and smelled to him like some fragrant  
oid gone rancid... that had been what had attracted his attention in  
the first place; if it hadn't 'smelled' so bad, he wouldn't have  
noticed it's passage.  
  
Nothing. Nothing at all. Great.  
  
"And what do we have here?" A voice interrupted his thoughts, and  
he opened his eyes. Standing in front of him was a man garbed in an  
officious-looking uniform and a rather stern attitude. He was  
oriental in appearance, and the language bore that out; Japanese.  
Luckily, he knew the language fairly well.  
  
"Trying to get out of school, are we? We can't have that, young  
sir."  
  
'Think quick.' He needed to come up with some excuse, and,  
unprepared, he couldn't pull a vanishing act. Not without raising a  
large enough fuss that whatever he was tracking might take notice.  
  
"Uh... well, I'manexchangestudentandIjustarrivedanddon'tknow  
wheretogo," he quickly spit out, bluffing for all his worth.  
  
The truant officer (for that seemed to be what the man was),  
blinked.  
  
"What?"  
  
Meryn sweated and repeated himself more slowly.  
  
"I'm, uh, an exchange student from England and I don't know where  
I need to go."  
  
The man eyed him somewhat suspiciously.  
  
"An exchange student, eh? And you don't know where the school  
is?"  
  
'Oh, crap...'  
  
"Well, umm, I had the paperwork with me, but I kinda dropped it  
overboard on the boat and, ummm..." he stammered out. Inside he was  
pleading silently. 'Pleasebuyitpleasebuyitpleasebuyit...'  
  
The man's expression softened just a wit, and he grunted.  
  
"Well then, let me escort you to the school. Juuban high, right?  
They've been receiving a few exchange students recently."  
  
"Umm... yeah, that's right. Juuban high."  
  
'Just great. I'm stuck with this guy, and it looks like he'll be  
careful not to let me out of his sight until we reach this school  
he's talking about... crap.'  
  
Meryn sighed and followed the police officer down the sidewalk.  
  
'Oh, well... I might as well. Actually... this would give me a  
cover identity to help me blend in...' his expression brightened,  
far more than would be explained by this reasoning. 'And it  
wouldn't be out of place to have some fun, anyway.'  
  
****  
Makoto stared listlessly in space as her teacher stood up in the  
front, expounding on the consequences of the introduction of  
firearms into Japanese warfare. Another day, same as the last.  
Nothing seemed to happen, and if it lasted much longer, she'd break  
down and cry.  
  
There was a slight commotion as the classroom door opened and a  
police officer walked in, followed by a boy who looked about her  
age. She recognied the officer as one of the three or so that spent  
the schoolday hunting down student who'd decided to skip school.  
However, her attention was immediately attracted by the boy.  
  
He wasn't devastatingly handsome, but he did seem kinda cute. She  
perked up slightly, and then sank back down. He probably already  
had a girlfriend. Either that, or he was another enemy or  
something. It wasn't fair! All the cute guys either already had  
girlfriends, were complete asses, or were an enemy of some sort.  
Sometimes more than one of the above.  
  
Everyone in the class started whispering among themselves,  
speculating on the nature of the unfamiliar face. Most likely, he  
was someone who tried to skip out on yet another boring school day,  
and he'd been caught and sent here.  
  
The police officer walked over to the teacher and whispered  
something quietly to her. She looked at the boy and then nodded her  
head. She gestured the boy over to her and faced the class,  
clearing her throat.  
  
"This is Meryn Arboris, a new exchange student from England. He  
just arrived in the country, and will be in your class."  
  
Then she turned to Meryn. "Feel free to ask anyone here any  
questions you may have."  
  
She turned and scanned the classroom.  
  
"You may sit next to Makoto Kino, over there."  
  
Makoto brightened up. If he wasn't an enemy, and didn't have a  
girlfriend (he just arrived, so maybe he didn't), maybe...  
  
Suddenly, the future didn't seem quite so bleak after all. Not  
quite, at least.  
  
****  
  
Bemused, Meryn walked over to the seat indicated, and sat down.  
He'd never actually been to school, so this would be a new  
experience for him.  
  
Suddenly he frowned. He could feel something... well, not-good.  
It wasn't what he had been tracking - it wasn't unnatural at all.  
Rather, it felt like...  
  
Depression. Someone was feeling REALLY bad about themselves. And  
said someone had at least a bit of mystical or psychic ability, so  
he could easily pick it up. He gave the classroom a slow scan,  
looking for...  
  
The girl next to him! She was kinda cute, and he could tell by  
her expression that she was probably the one he'd been feeling  
before. He cocked his head as he studied her head, which was bent  
slightly as she watched whatever she was doing in her notebook.  
Evidently feeling something, she look up and caught his gaze on her.  
He gave her a tentative smile and flipped his head to the other  
side, and quickly wrote a short message in large kana on his  
notebook and held it up.  
  
****  
  
Makoto could feel eyes on her. She looked up to see the new  
student, Meryn, studying her. She gave him a puzzled look, and he  
responded with a quick smile and tilt of his head. He scribbed  
something down and held it up for her to see.  
  
'Cheer up!'  
  
And for some reason, she immediately felt better. She returned  
his smile with one that, although a little weak, was the first  
genuine smile she'd had for days.  
  
****  
  
A huge reptilian figure, partially cloaked in shadow, lay on a  
comfortable-looking mound of pillows. In frot of him was a small  
table with a glwoing orb almost a foot in diameter on it. Branydd,  
a dragon of significant age and power, rustled his wings and  
grumbled in disgust.  
  
"Damn blockhead always has to go off on his own," he muttered.  
"Oh, and of course," and here his voice took on a mocking tone.  
"Someone has to mind the fort," he mimicked with an almost palpable  
aura of irritation. "I understand THAT. But why does it always  
have to be me? Why couldn't it be that overgrown fishbait Erith?  
Why me, every time!?"  
  
There was a slight movement from a balcony almost two stories  
above the grumbling lizard, and an indignant (yet humorous)  
telepathic reply.  
  
[Fishbait? And who are you to talk, o lizard of a thousand  
excuses? I am not able to manipulate the seeing orb, as you well  
know, o torch-with-an-attitude. Besides, it isn't you every time.  
How about the last time, remeber? When you'd been asleep for two  
months and I had to watch things? Talk about lazy...]  
  
The dragon mock-growled up towards the balcony.  
  
"And whose fault was that? I don't remember that elephant-sized  
dose of fae wine being quite THAT potent... but I DO remeber a  
certain worm doing something near the punchbowl..."  
  
[I'm a Zembahk, not a worm, o overgrown iguana. And I had  
absolutely nothing to do with it.]  
  
The average listener, in spite of the innocent, almost angelical  
tone of the telepathic 'voice,' would almost immediately condemn  
the speaker of whatever crime they were denying... and Branydd was  
quite familiar with Erith's... jokes.  
  
"I don't believe that one bit... as you're quite aware, I'm sure."  
  
The foot-long worm floated down from the balcony, and gave a  
mental shrug.  
  
[It doesn't really matter, anyway. What do you think he's doing  
this time, anyway?]  
  
Branydd rustled his wings, the equivalent of a shoulder shrugging.  
"Not sure... he said something about a Rift, and something getting  
through from this side. I don't think that's the only reason,  
though... he was getting kinda antsy lately."  
  
Erith, although he had no mouth, or recognizable facial feature,  
for that matter, still managed to get across the impression of a  
grin. [I wouldn't doubt it. You have to remember that he's young,  
especially for one of his race... you do remember what it is to be  
young, don't you, O-Ancient-and-DecrepidOne?]  
  
The dragon gave him a severe look. "Just as well as you do, you  
overtalkative fishbait. Still, how long do you think we should give  
him?"  
  
[A couple of weeks, no moe than a month. Dice to see who drags  
him back?]  
  
Branydd coguhed disbelievingly. "Only if I can examine your dice,  
old cheat."  
  
The Zembahk drew his head back,the very picture of wounded  
dignity. [Are you implying that I CHEAT??]  
  
"I do more than imply it, my friend. Let's try playing fair,  
shall we?  
  
****  
  
Meryn paid the class's teacher the minimum of appropirate  
attention to keep her from singling her out while he pondered his  
current situation.  
  
'Well, this'll make it difficult to actually do anything. As long  
as I'm stuck here, I can't be out hunting... On the other hand...'  
  
A picture of a young girl's face framed by long brown hair flashed  
through his mind for a moment, until he dismissed it absently and  
picked up where he left off.  
  
'On the other hand, this will give me a base of operations... an  
identity, in other words. Later, I'll need to create some documents  
and opther things to support that...'  
  
He absently fiddled with a pen, spinning iton his finger. Lost in  
thought, he didn't notice, and abruptly the pen sliiped and  
clattered on the floor... right when the teacher had taken a pause  
in her lecture.  
  
The teacher looked towards the noise, and saw the apparently  
dozing new student.  
  
"Mr. Arboris! Since you seem to be so confident about your  
abilities, why don't you complete this timeline on the board for the  
rest of us?"  
  
He immediately snapped completely awake. 'Oh, crap.'  
  
****  
  
Zazshan (he hadn't bothered to create a native identity for this  
fragment) completed the preparations for turning the small abandoned  
home into a veritable magical fortress. It was always best to be  
subtle at first, until one's position was unassailable, after all.  
Now the process of doing away with this world's rather weak  
protectors could be started.  
  
There were, as far as he could tell, a maximum of 11 magically  
impowered human beings. For the most part, each one was identified,  
and apparently drew power from, one of this system's planets. All  
had used no more than three or four different spells in combat, and,  
again for the most part, those attacks were not of much concern to  
most of his possible agents. There were some that he would need to  
be cautious of; the warrior for Saturn seemed to have a dangerous  
(and respectable) amount of power, although it's most powerful form  
seemed to be very limited in application... the destruction of  
whatever planet the warrior was on. The apparent leader of the  
group, identified with this parallel earth's moon, although lesser  
in raw power, was of more concern to him because the nature of her  
power was strongest against such as he and his. The rest were at  
best minor problems, with one exception, which worried him the most.  
  
The senshi for Pluto.  
  
Whereas the others appeared to be at best humans with raw magical  
potential (respectable for the race, true) that had devices or such  
that actively channeled their power in certain pre-set patterns. In  
other words, they were one-or-two spell wizards. Warlocks,  
actually, for the most part. It was possible that Sailor Moon  
actually had some connection to a Spirit of Light or a similar  
power, but that could be taken care of. However, Pluto's senshi was  
something different.  
  
A time mage; a temporal wizard. He had encountered the like  
before, and knew not to underestimate them. This one, especially,  
since she appeared to have access to some artifact of time (which he  
would dearly like to get a hold of, along with that walking magic  
battery that Sailor Moon carried). He could anticiplate and defend  
against most kinds of magic, but that of the realm of chronos was  
unfamiliar to him. Therefore, dangerous.  
  
He had two general courses he could try to take. The first would  
be to attempt to eliminate the three greatest threats first. If he  
succeeded, he could easily destroy the rest. However, if he failed,  
the whole would be alerted, and the weaker members would be  
protected. The second course would be to quietly try to eliminate  
the weaker members and/or use them as bait in carefully laid traps.  
SUccess would mean cutting the bigger threats away from possible  
reinforcements or assistance, as well as possibly using traps to  
draw them into his own territory. Failure, would, again, alert the  
whole to his presence. However, in this case it would be possible,  
quite easy in fact, to keep them underestimating his capabilities  
and those of the minions he would be using.  
  
Yes. That would probably be the best course. Now... the best  
start would be a minor threat, easily destroyed, that would both  
raise thei overconfidence and be untraceable...  
  
****  
  
Author's Notes: What do you think? I'm co-opting the interesting  
idea/struggle set out in the RIFTS England book, with the  
manipulation of New Camelot and Ar'thuu by Mrrlyn (a projection of  
the evil alien intelligence Zazshan), versus the Chiang-Ku dragons  
(the druids, Prrcyvel) who fight him both openly and subtly. Add in  
a young Millenium Tree that can create a 'projection' (a body,  
pretty much), and a group of Senshi... let me know:  
deus_ex_mach42@hotmail.com  
  
PS: Here's the whole of chapter one! ... I'm not quite satisfied  
with the scene with the police officer, and so I'm posting it now  
and begging for ideas to make it better... the scene needs to set  
Meryn at Juuban High as a student, most likely an exhange student.  
Ideas for polishing this scene... please! And yes, I'm going to  
match him up with Makoto. In advance of the potests by those who  
are familiar with RIFTS England, I know that nothing is said about  
'projections' or anything similar by Millenium Trees in RIFTS  
ENgland. However... my story; I change things however it suits  
me... so there! Bee-dah!  
  
PPS: For those who noted that many of my story installments so far  
have been kinda short... this one's shaping up to be longer than the  
rest, except for maybe 'An Immortal Love' or 'Through the Eyes of a  
Dragon'. The first chapter is about 30k (at least 10k bigger than  
any other chapter I've written!), and future chapters are  
anticipated to be of similar length.  
 


End file.
